Raj Thackeray suffered a huge jolt on Thursday when one of his closest aides, Shweta Parulkar, quit his party and joined the rival Shiv Sena.

Parulkar, a former actress and an old friend of Raj Thackeray, had headed the women’s wing of his Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). She said she submitted her resignation to Raj Thackeray, then met his cousin Uddhav Thackeray at his Bandra home and joined the Shiv Sena.

Parulkar had contested the Lok Sabha elections from Mumbai South Central, winning over one lakh votes. She fell out with Raj Thackeray after he suddenly dissolved the executive committee of the women’s wing. Raj dissolved the labour wing, too, saying newer leaders should be given a chance and a reshuffle was due.

Parulkar had expressed her discontent publicly last month. “The most disappointing part is that I was not contacted or asked to meet Raj even after I expressed my dissent. I was extremely dissatisfied with the working of the party,” Parulkar said, adding she wanted to work according to the directives of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray.

Parulkar, an old friend of Raj Thackeray, had joined him when he broke away from the Shiv Sena. He formed the MNS, she headed its women’s wing and held the post till its dissolution. Before that, she was closely associated with the Shiv Sena as an activist in its women’s wing, though without holding a post.

Some within the MNS seemed relieved as she had been the first to revolt against Raj. Had she stayed, they felt, it could have created an undercurrent of dissent ahead of the assembly elections.

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